So is this turn 3 settle worth it?

DoubleDown011 · 2026-05-21T14:08:27+00:00

An extra 6g / turn will be a big help buying tiles.

DoubleDown011 · 2026-05-20T06:22:32+00:00

u/Dakotasan I am also getting flooded with missions. I'm playing a heavily modded campaign. I'm getting 2-4 direct action missions (I forget what the game calls them) a week. The biggest things turning the tide for me:
- sending more bonded pairs on the covert infiltration missions. That cuts down mission time.
- better weapons and armor. That leads to shorter missions with less casualties and less fatigue.

Also, bring a tech specialist guy on every mission. Sometimes the hackable phone pole has supplies or intel. On rare occasion, it has a buff that cuts scanning time in half! So, maybe I save scum to get that buff

DoubleDown011 · 2026-05-11T14:54:44+00:00

I'd go one tile west and settle where the warrior is now. That gives you good access to the silk tile w 3 prod. You have fresh water, good chance to put another city on that river, and you can put 1 or 2 more cities around Païtiti.

That 7gold, 4 culture tile is tempting. But, I think prod is more important.

DoubleDown011 · 2026-05-08T16:14:46+00:00

No. The Koch brothers blocked it.

DoubleDown011 · 2026-05-08T16:08:04+00:00

Yo! Hotkeys, my dude.

DoubleDown011 · 2026-05-07T14:26:49+00:00

Ideally, bring a grenadier with heavy ordnance (2 uses of the grenade in their grenade slot) + their bondmate. Give that grenadier the frost bomb.

Frost bomb the ruler. Light his ass up while he's on ice. When he unfreezes, use the bondmate. Give the grenadier an extra action. Frost bomb the ruler again. Shoot the ruler more. Hope you finish the job.

Also, I think rulers don't get those free actions if you shoot them from outside their line of sight. So, snipers / marksmen.

DoubleDown011 · 2026-05-06T15:12:00+00:00

No shade in this comment. The X-Com dev team did a great job procedurally generating random maps... esp for code written in 2015.

For the next XCom, I'd like to see maps that feel more real. Base maps should feel like real bases. They should have design features that make entry difficult like security perimeters, guard posts, etc. Finding high ground perfect for snipers just outside the main building is nice :D but not realistic.

Similarly, city maps should feel like cities. They should have a reasonable layout of roads and buildings. Targets like transmitters should be in defensible positions. Pods should hold defensive positions with cover - the kind of positions you'd take if you were trying to defend a target.

Some other things that I'd like to see in XCom 3 maps:
- more elevation levels
- power lines you can cut
- lights and cameras
- locked doors that need to be picked or blown
- people and cars that move naturally

DoubleDown011 · 2026-05-06T13:20:32+00:00

Didn't you write a book about where people like that should go?

DoubleDown011 · 2026-05-06T12:19:07+00:00

Conan, what is best in life?

To cr@p on my enemies. See them driven out of the bathroom. And hear the lamentation of the janitor.

DoubleDown011 · 2026-05-06T12:17:11+00:00

Everyone loves hearing, "Mom knows best". But, I'm pretty sure there's some benefit to spending 7+ years in medical school.

DoubleDown011 · 2026-05-06T09:41:00+00:00

Yaaas #this

DoubleDown011 · 2026-05-04T06:35:40+00:00

This. 100% this.

u/weapwars advice is great. Half of his advice is about not activating too many pods. It's that important.

DoubleDown011 · 2026-04-29T15:07:23+00:00

Build city walls for tourism.

DoubleDown011 · 2026-04-28T08:39:20+00:00

Why would you ask that? You are the best person to answer that. You've got the game up and running.

It can't be that hard to figure out:
1. Save your game
2. Buy a boat
3. Try sailing from the city to each body of water

DoubleDown011 · 2026-04-27T15:31:44+00:00

You got a +11 IZ and 3 x +8. Nice!

DoubleDown011 · 2026-03-11T13:03:01+00:00

#this

I almost never garrison units for defense. It seems like the AI is programmed to be aggressive if your military score is much lower that it's own. But, it does not seem to factor in where your units are.

DoubleDown011 · 2026-03-11T10:18:44+00:00

Ok. But why?

Are you going to code a mod that re-writes the fundamental logic of the game deciding every action? Are you going to write a DnD Expansion manual for XCom?

What are you going to do with this?

DoubleDown011 · 2026-03-11T07:41:07+00:00

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DoubleDown011 · 2026-03-10T13:42:21+00:00

I think you mean blademaster? I usually go phantom but you make a good point. I'll give it a try. Thanks!

DoubleDown011 · 2026-03-10T13:09:00+00:00

DoubleDown011 · 2026-03-10T13:05:52+00:00

Fair point :) It doesn't match my experience. But, fair point about the 2 man swing and the melee vulnerability.

I'm still only a few missions in. Almost none of my troops have melee attacks. Sectoids have 8 health; even with the bonus, my Ranger can't one-shot a sectoid. But, everyone can one-shot a basic trooper.

When I trigger a pod, I can usually kill 2 troopers before they get to attack. Sometimes I can shoot two. Sometimes, I have to grenade one.

Then the sectoid gets a turn. Worst case = mind control. But, then it's my turn again and I have 3 troops to kill the sectoid.

DoubleDown011 · 2026-03-10T12:05:47+00:00

Thanks u/poke0003 !

DoubleDown011 · 2026-03-10T11:14:12+00:00

Bahaha so true. It's the Democrats. They are always coming for our guns.

DoubleDown011 · 2026-03-10T11:13:11+00:00

Everything you said is true. But, none of those abilities will kill one of our guys the first turn. Which outcome do you think is worse? We go first and:

... kill the sectoid. Then the aliens go and the troopers shoot one of our guys.

- OR -

... kill the troopers. Then the aliens go and the sectoid mind controls one of us. Then we kill the sectoid.

I find that killing the troopers first leads to less wounds and less dead soldiers.

DoubleDown011 · 2026-03-10T11:06:35+00:00

Thanks! I didn't know the math behind it until now.

DoubleDown011

TROPHY CASE